A New Day
by bulletproofpencil
Summary: They made it to Mistral, what's next? Picks up right at the end of Volume 4. Rated T For now, but I'll change it as things get darker when they do
1. Prologue

Jaune took his stance as per the video's instructions. A forward thrusting jab, followed by a swing to his right, then another swing to follow through. Though his face displayed exhaustion and pain, he still managed to smile while the last part of the video played. The small bit of comfort quickly stamped with a pang of guilt.

"I'll always be here for you, Jaune," Pyrrha's message stopped, then rewound itself.

Jaune took a quick moment to remind himself that it was his fault that she's gone. He was the one who was supposed to stand guard while the procedure took place. 'If I had blocked that arrow, maybe held Cinder back long enough, just maybe, Pyrrha would still be alive,' Jaune thought, 'But she's not.'

"Shield up, keep your grip tight. Don't forget to keep your front foot forward…" the video continued on as Jaune snapped out of his thoughts. He reassumed his stance and repeated the three-swing combo.

"Why are you doing this to yourself, Jaune?" Ruby mumbled to herself as she walked away, unable to continue watching her friend in his self-made agony, still wishing she could help somehow. "It wouldn't be right if I did."


	2. Chapter 1- A Tale of Two Dorks

"We made it uncle Qrow," Ruby smiled down at the still injured drunk.

'I guess I live to drink another day,' Qrow thought to himself as he let out a sigh of relief and let his eyes, mind and body take a rest, 'I'm never staying up for a week ever again.'

Jaune stepped to the edge of the aircraft's doorway to take in Mistral's beauty as they approach the kingdom. 'A city devoted to art, but who knew it'd be so beautiful, just like Pyrrha,' Jaune fought back the tears as he glanced over at the other aircraft to see his teammates in each other's arms enjoying the other's company in comfortable silence, 'they deserve it, after all they've been through. But how long until one of them is left alone?'

Ruby turned her gaze onto Jaune, and approached his side. She wrapped her arms around one of his to comfort the young knight. "If you try to jump, I'll stop you and tie you to the chair over there," Ruby awkwardly said to break the silence.

"You know Ruby, I'm not that depressed. I could always be a farmer, or something," Jaune chuckled to himself, to Ruby's confusion and horror as she tried to pull him from the edge of the aircraft's entrance. "It's a joke Ruby. I said something similar when I was going through a rough time at Beacon."

"Oh, haha, I guess," Ruby nervously chuckled as she let go of Jaune's arm. She pressed her back against a wall and slid down to sit, "are you sure you're alright, Jaune?"

"I'm pretty sure I am?" Jaune questioned as he took Ruby's silent invitation to sit next to her.

"I saw you training at night a few weeks ago," Ruby averted her gaze to the floor to escape Jaune's eyes, "I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough. I couldn't save her."

"It's not your fault, Ruby," Jaune leaned his head back against the wall, "Even if we were all there, we would have just got in the way. Even if you did get there in time, you would have died too, and I don't think I could have handled losing two of my friends at the same time."

"But weren't you two more than friends?" Ruby asked, "I mean, if you're comfortable talking about it."

"It's fine, Ruby. I gotta talk about sooner or later," Jaune closed his eyes, "For a moment, yes, we were more than friends. Right before she fought Cinder, she kissed me, and in that moment, I realized that all this time, she felt this way about me and I was too stupid to realize it sooner. The future I could have had with her was ripped from me, from us. As a fellow leader, you understood the pressure we must take on our shoulders. In a way, we could understand each other that none of our friends ever could. You're one of my closest friends, Ruby, and if I had lost you too, I don't know what I would have done."

"I wouldn't want to imagine it," Ruby replied, "I don't want you doing anything stupid just because I died. If you want, we could train together, those videos are only beginner stuff. Besides, I feel like I'm getting a little rusty with the lack of training."

"I'll think about it," Jaune sighed, "I don't think I'm ready yet."

"Jaune, you need to keep moving forward," Ruby turned her body to face him, "I've seen the look on your face when you train with those videos. You've come far enough, I know you're strong, and I don't think you should continue torturing yourself like this. It hurts me to see you so broken and you're keeping yourself broken by watching those videos over and over."

"I told you Ruby, I'm just not ready yet," Jaune repeated himself a little louder, "I'm not ready because it was my mistakes that led to Pyrrha's death. I was supposed to stand guard while Ozpin was doing this weird thing to Pyrrha and this other girl. Turns out, it was my fault that Cinder gained all this power and became virtually unstoppable. I still see myself making the same mistakes with our team."

"Then you need to become better!" Ruby scolded, "You can't get better if you're stuck in the past, if you don't keep moving forward then it's a given that you'll make the same mistakes over and over again. I know you loved Pyrrha, but don't honor her memory like this. Honor it by being a doing whatever it takes to become a better huntsman so you don't have to watch anyone close to you die again."

"I said I'll think about it," Jaune said as the aircraft landed. He grunted as he got up to leave the aircraft but paused before jumping out, "I'll go with Ren and Nora to find a place to stay while we're here. You should help Qrow get to a hospital to get that stab wound looked at, they should have antidotes, even if the poison was from a Faunus."

"If you change your mind, Jaune, I'm always here for you. I'm not going anywhere since I don't really have anyone else to turn to," Ruby blurted out before Jaune leapt off the edge of the aircraft's exit.

"The guards told us that there's a pretty empty inn in town that'll let us stay for free if we do a couple odd jobs for them," Ren told Jaune after he jumped off the aircraft, "I think we should check that out first."

"Yeah, I don't know about either of you, but I know I'm sick of sleeping on the ground all the time," Nora added as the trio began to walk off.

"I've been meaning to ask, how long have you two been together?" Jaune asked, "I mean not together together, but you know what I mean?"

"Together? I'd have to say maybe eight or nine years now," Ren answered as he smiled at Nora smiling right back at him.

"Together together? Several hours," Nora added.

"I was wondering when it would happen," Jaune teased, "I'm happy for both of you."

"Well, after what happened with the Nuckalavee, I realized that I should stop hiding my feelings because who knows how much time we'll have together?" Nora said ecstatically.

"Even if I was the one who made the first move," Ren chuckled, as Jaune laughed.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Jaune skeptically asked. After a couple hours of walking and searching, the three found themselves standing in front of a vomit-green inn which seemed to be in slight disrepair. Jaune reluctantly followed the couple who confidently walked in.

"The guard said to go to the city's capital, take the street that leads towards the tower then take two lefts then a right, this is the first inn that we've come across, so I'm sure this is it," Nora explained.

"You three must be the huntsmen and huntresses that Jack told me about," the innkeeper greeted as they approached the front desk, "He gave me a call as soon as he landed, but he told me there were five of you."

"Our friend's uncle was injured, so she took him to the hospital for some treatment," Ren explained, "They'll be here later, so we'll check in for them to reserve a room."

"How many beds would you fellas need?" the innkeeper asked.

"Two rooms, and four beds," Ren answered almost immediately.

"Uh, four beds?" Jaune asked.

"Ren and I talked it over on the ride here and decided that we can sleep together, we can save a little bit of lien and besides, we're used to it," Nora answered.

"Alright, I guess I'll take the key to the room, what are you guys gonna do?"

"I was thinking of exploring the town with Nora, pick up some food. Do you want anything?" Ren answered.

"I'll be fine with whatever tastes good, I guess," Jaune left the card of lien on the counter and picked up the pair of keys, "I'll message Ruby the address so she knows where to go when they're done at the hospital."

"Sounds like a plan," Nora waved as she happily walked off with Ren's hand in her's.

Jaune sauntered into the room and set his things down. He took a moment to unsheath his sword and set the pair down against the wall. It had been his first time getting a good look at the new appearance of his weapons. He took the time to admire the weaponsmith's metalwork.

"He was right, the gold does accent the shield quite nicely," Jaune admitted to himself, "I wish Pyrrha could see how far I've come."

Jaune stared off into space letting thoughts come and go. He reminisced about his days at Beacon. He thought about the first day of Beacon, how he made so many friends at once. He remembered the nights that he trained with Pyrrha on the rooftop, how he bonded with her over the exchange of their blades. He remembered how times were much more light hearted before Beacon's fall. He wanted to go back to those days so much. He remembered Pyrrha's death, how he was useless and hopeless. Then he remembered Ruby's words.

"We're back," Ren announced as he opened the door. He noticed the sword and shield leaned up against the wall and set down his father's blade before joining Jaune and Nora at the bed.

"What's on your mind?" Nora asked to break the momentary silence.

"Just thinking of stuff. Our days at Beacon, our journey that led us all here, Pyrrha," Jaune trailed off at the mention of her name, "I was talking with Ruby on the ride here, and she offered to train with me."

"That's great Jaune. You may be our leader, and you may be a decent tactician, but I still gotta admit that you suck at fighting," Nora jumped up in excitement.

"She is one of the best fighters in our grade, you know," Ren added.

"I'd say only second to Pyrrha, but then again, she was able to get into Beacon two years early," Nora said in a matter-of-factly voice.

"Guys, I get it. She's one of the best fighters I know, but it's happening almost the same as what happened with Pyrrha," Jaune retorted, "I'm just scared that I'll lose her like I did with Pyrrha. It all started with training."

"I get that there are some parallels here, but think about it this way, you weren't able to do anything back then, no one could. None of us had seen that kind of power before and we didn't know how to fight it. Of course it'll happen again, we're on a campaign against Cinder and whoever she's working with. We're chasing after it. The best thing you can do is to get better and help each other sharpen your skills so it doesn't happen again," Ren said in his attempt to comfort Jaune, "become a better huntsman so you can forge your own destiny."

"You're right, Ren. I wasn't even able to come close to even fighting by Pyrrha's side. I need to make sure that I'm ready for the next time, and next time all of us are coming home alive," Jaune confidently said, accepting Ren's advice as he got up to leave, "Thanks for everything, Ren, you too Nora."

Jaune walked down the hall to Ruby and Qrow's room only to pause outside the door. He panicked for a bit, ashamed to face Ruby again because of his behavior and what he said earlier that day. After taking a few deep breaths, he raised his hand to knock.

"Come in," Jaune heard Ruby yell from across the room.

Jaune slowly opened the door and stuck his head through, "Hey Ruby, got a moment?"

"Sure, come on in," Ruby looked up from the envelope she had just sealed as Jaune closed the door behind him.

"I want to apologize about how I acted earlier. I'm still not really over Pyrrha, and I'm scared that what happened with her would happen to you too. You're one of my best friends and I just don't want to lose you too," Jaune said penitentially.

"I understand, Jaune, we're all still recovering from what and who we lost during the invasion," Ruby sympathised, "remember when we first met?"

"How could I forget, crater face?" Jaune taunted.

"Whatever, vomit boy," Ruby bantered back, "but back to my point. My mom used to tell me a ton of bedtime stories, but my favorites were always the ones about two heroes. The ones I loved weren't about the heroes who were born with immense wealth, talent, charisma and strength who were destined for greatness from birth, no, the stories I loved always started about a nobody who made the right decisions. The nobody who met someone, sometimes they were lovers, sometimes they were good friends, but they grew together. They lost some battles, but they won even more. Sometimes the battles were just the darkest days that they had together, but they always pulled through because they had each other. When I met you, lying in that crater after that dust explosion, I was having a rough day. I was in a strange place, surrounded by stranger people, but you helped me. Not a knight in shining armor, but a friend. A knight whose armor has seen the darkest days, and fought the toughest battles. Looking up at you, it reminded me of all those stories."

"That was beautiful," Jaune wiped the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes as he fought back more and sniffled his mucous back. "I guess we're those two heroes, right?"

"That's right Jaune," Ruby smiled, "we've struggled a lot since we left Patch, but that just tells us that there's a lot of room for us to grow. Have you seen the video of uncle Qrow fighting Weiss' sister in the courtyard?"

"Yeah, that fight was the best. They were much better than the students fighting at the festival," Jaune answered excitedly.

"I know, that's what I dream of," Ruby said, losing herself in the image, "I wanna be so good that I can go toe to toe with uncle Qrow and beat him in a serious fight. Then I know that I'll have the skill to be the kind of huntress that can help people."

"Then I guess my dream will be to be able to go toe to toe with you and beat you while you're serious and I'm just as drunk as your uncle in that fight," Jaune teased.

"Then it's a deal. From now on, we'll work to be the heroes that people will tell about to their children in bedtime stories," Ruby exclaimed, "and you'll be my damsel in distress."

"Hey, that's not fair! I'm the one who rescued you from that crater at the start of the year," Jaune said in response.

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 **Author's note: It's weird being back to writing fics again. If people are wondering where I've been, I've just been super busy with school and relocating over the last couple of years. I started some semi-professional projects and now I have some time to relax for a while. I'm pretty rusty at writing, and I'm the type of person who is more used to dialogue heavy sort of writing. Anyway, tell me what you guys think, any type of criticism is welcome.**


	3. Chapter 2- Sparring with a Loaded Mind

**Author's Note: Yay, another chapter is up. Now let's see how long I can keep this streak up. I'm trying to pace myself in my writing, just so I don't burn myself out like last time. On a side note, ever notice how some writers/people on social media/people in the comments of stuff type out "hunters" instead of huntsmen/huntresses? I find it kinda weird seeing as how RT sticks to going out of their way in using the word "Huntsmen."**

* * *

Jaune held the granola bar in his teeth as he groggily laced his boots onto his feet, chewing every few seconds, making sure there were no loose spots, then ending with a quick double loop knot. Putting down the granola bar, he slipped into his favorite hoodie, then into his breastplate, then took a full bite of the granola bar. After slipping on his sleeves, he carefully placed his elbow pads and arm guards to the proper position, making sure the armor didn't cut off any circulation, followed with another quarter of the granola bar. After slipping on his gauntlets, tying his sash, and finishing the rest of his granola bar, he reached into his belt compartment and pulled out another wrapped granola bar along with some jerky.

Jaune attached Crocea Mors to his belt as he closed the door behind him and wandered out into the still-dark morning. He sleepily ate as he sauntered through the city, making his way to an empty field where Ruby stood waiting for him. Looking up, he lazily tossed the bag of jerky to her, along with a couple of granola bars.

"Thanks for the breakfast, Jaune," Ruby said as she happily reached into the bag of dehydrated meat.

"So what kind of training are we doing on day one? If it's combat, you're gonna have to slow down a lot for me," Jaune managed to yawn out through his half-full mouth.

"Well, since it's been well over a year, since you started combat training, I guess I should let you take a break from that," Ruby said devilishly, "instead, we're gonna work on aura, more specifically, we're gonna force your semblance to manifest."

"Wait, what?" Jaune snapped wide awake at the mention of aura and his semblance, "Ruby, I don't know if you know this or if you haven't picked up over the last few months, but I'm pretty sure I don't have a semblance."

"That's nonsense, everyone has a semblance," Ruby refuted.

"Seriously, Ruby, I've tried to force it out, Pyrrha tried too, nothing worked," Jaune continued to argue his case.

"Jaune, do you know what exactly is a semblance?" Ruby asked.

"It's the manifestation of a person's soul. It's their way of manipulating their aura in a way that's unique to them, it's how Nora has her thing with electricity, and you have your speed. It's based on your history and what kind of person you are."

"Correct, so what kind of person are you?"

"I'm not sure I follow."

"It's exactly how I asked it, what kind of person are you Jaune?"

"At this point, I don't know anymore, can you answer that for me because I don't know who exactly I am."

"You're Jaune Arc. You're my friend, one of the kindest people I've met. You're awkward and a total pushover at times, but you don't take crap from anyone and you defend your friends when it matters to you. That's the kind of person you are."

"Wow, Ruby. You really think that?"

"Of course, I do, Jaune, and I mean every word of it. That being said, I'm going to try a bunch of things to try and force your semblance out of you."

"Alright, like what?"

"Well, for starters, since you tend to fight defensively, you're gonna stand over there while I shoot dust rounds at you."

"Ruby, please, no," Jaune held his hands up, then slowly moved his hand towards Crocea Mors.

"Too late!" Ruby yelled as she quickly drew Crescent Rose and fired five rounds at Jaune.

Jaune's perception of time seemed to slow to a crawl. He sees how fast the bullets are going, but he knows that there's no time to pull out his shield. Jaune panics and feels this pressure building up in his core. Out of instinct, Jaune projected the pressure outward and his body begins to slightly shimmer. He moves his arms as fast as he can to cover his face as tries to brace himself for the impact, but as the bullets contacted his skin, he felt as if he'd been hit with a pebble. Jaune slowly lowered his arms and looked down at his feet, seeing the bullets had been crushed. Ruby waltzed on over to Jaune and bent over to pick up a bullet to be inspected.

"Hmmmm," Ruby furrowed her brow and rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "I can't tell if this is just your aura or if it really is your semblance."

"What do you mean?" Jaune bent over to cluelessly look at the bullet in Ruby's fingers.

"I've seen this happen before. Remembered what happened at Forever Fall?" Ruby continued to turn the bullet, inspecting it from different angles, "I was watching when Cardin was wailing on you, he pulled back to punch you, but he hurt his hand and you weren't hurt."

"Wait, you saw what was happening, and you didn't do anything?" Jaune pointed accusingly at Ruby.

"Jaune, I wanted to do something, I wanted to help," Ruby dropped the bullet and pleaded with Jaune, "but you weren't letting us help you. At least I thought I wanted to. But part of me pretended to not see it."

"That's true though," Jaune sighed. His body stopped shimmering and he dropped down to sit, "I'm pretty sure it would have broken me. I was a leader and part of me thought that I didn't need help, but another part of me wanted to reach out. Both sides were always fighting each other, and the leader side of me won every time."

"I'm sorry I didn't do anything about it Jaune," Ruby frantically apologized, "you were the first friend I made at Beacon an if it weren't for my friendship with you, our teams wouldn't have been as close as they were. What kind of friend looks the other way and pretends not to see her friend being miserable? Am I a bad person Jaune?"

"Ruby, do you remember the night before we went out to Forever Fall?" Jaune moved closer to rub Ruby's back to comfort the now sobbing girl, "You may not have realized it, but that one word you kept telling, what you told me. It did so much for me, you did so much for me. You told me what I needed to hear. You came down to my level, you understood the struggles to be a leader, and you gave me the strength that I needed to stand up for myself. You're not a bad person, Rubes, you're the best kind of friend that I could ever ask for."

"You mean that?" Ruby said through her sniffles.

"Of course, and I forgive you," Jaune patted Ruby's head from behind causing her to let out a small giggle.

"Are you okay?" Jaune got up and offered to help Ruby to her feet, to which she gladly accepted.

"Yeah," Ruby sniffled one more time, "back to training?"

"Will it make you feel better?" Jaune bantered.

"Yes please?" Ruby folded her hands together and smiled and pleaded with her eyes as best as she could.

"Alright, how do you wanna do this?" Jaune drew his sword after popping his shield to full length, "I don't have any sort of guns, do you still wanna use your sniper rifle?"

"Nahh, that'd be really unfair," Ruby twirled Crescent Rose as she unfolded it, letting the tip of her blade sink itself into the ground, "just regular physical combat, try to keep up with me?"

"Don't go easy on me just because I'm weaker than you," Jaune said as he got into the stance that he practised on. Ruby circled Jaune as he turned several times doing his best to predict Ruby's moves. Ruby looked for an opening, Jaune swung his shield to his left to block a strike from Crescent Rose then returned with a front moving jab, only for Ruby to continue circling Jaune after the strike. He brought his sword down slightly to his right whilst turning around as hard as he could, bashing his shield into Ruby's side, causing her to fly to Jaune's left. Jaune slightly squat to launch himself to Ruby's direction, swinging his sword in an outward slash, he came at Ruby as quickly as possible.

Ruby blocked Jaune's strike with the shaft of her scythe, then hooked its blade behind his shoulder. Jaune, using the window of his aura's protection, swung his body to send Ruby flying upwards. Launching himself upward, Jaune prepared another shield bash, but Ruby propelled herself downwards by launching a round behind her barely missing the hit. Jaune turned his body just in time to block the rounds Ruby had shot during her descent.

As Ruby landed in the field, Jaune threw his shield with high accuracy as a distraction on his way down. Jaune took his sword in both hands and brought it down with immense strength coupled with the pressure of his fall, Ruby slightly faltered as she swung her scythe to parry. As the two blows connected, the ground around Ruby's feet sank slightly, forming small cracks in the grass. Time seemed to slow for a second, long enough for a short exchange of words.

Ruby nervously smiled and looked up at Jaune, "You've gotten so much better."

Jaune met Ruby's gaze and smirked confidently and used his sword to launch himself backwards, causing Ruby to step back. "And you've gotten slower," bantered in response.

"I'll show you slow!" Ruby retorted as she began to circle Jaune faster.

Jaune smirked as he looked at different angles, picking up on Ruby's erratic behavior. Jaune lowered his guard slightly, doing his best to bait Ruby into attacking. He sheathed his sword into his still open shield, turned around and caught Crescent Rose by the shaft, stopping Ruby dead in her tracks. He looked up, seeing the scythe had been extended and pointed outwardly. Jaune turned to see Ruby's shocked face with surprise on his own.

"Did you try to go for a killing hit?" Jaune's face became stern.

"I don't know," Ruby looked down in shame, "I guess I'm just a little mad that you're catching up so quickly. I kinda missed being better at fighting than you. I'm happy, but you didn't have to say that I'm getting slower because I feel like I actually am."

Jaune let go to allow Ruby to lower Crescent Rose. She kept her gaze to the ground to avoid Jaune's piercing eyes. She felt the shame from the tugging feeling of jealousy spawned from Jaune's quick improvement. It had taken her years to get to a high level of skill to wield Crescent Rose, but it had taken Jaune several months of training to match her level. She had tried to deal a lethal attack to someone who, several moments before, had just called her his best friend. Her thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of Jaune's hand on her head. She felt the metal tips of his gauntlets massage the back of her head.

"It's okay, Ruby," Jaune comforted the teenager once again, "mistakes happen. Besides, I'm a huntsman and a leader, I should be prepared for accidents like these."

Ruby smiled through her tears as one thought rang clearly through her head, 'I don't deserve your friendship and kindness Jaune. I'm a terrible person.'

Jaune clipped Crocea Mors to his hip and pulled out a piece of jerky to offer to Ruby. He held the piece of preserved meat in front of her gaze, which Ruby readily accepted. Jaune took Crescent Rose and folded it down to its compressed form and clipped it to the small of Ruby's back, to which she squealed slightly.

"C'mon, we should meet Ren and Nora and get some real breakfast," Jaune cheerfully said, wrapping his arm around Ruby's shoulder pulling her into his stride, surprising her as she popped the piece of jerky into her mouth, "I don't know if you've had them yet, but Ren's pancakes are amazing. Get your syrup while you can though, Nora tends to empty the bottle really quickly."


	4. Chapter 3- Forging With Live Ammunition

**Author's note: Fun fact about me- I'm a pretty heavy drinker and that probably bleeds into every story that I write.  
Anyways, here's episode three of "Who's better than the author of this story?"  
I hope you guys enjoy. Reviews are always fun to read, and it leads to a better story, so give me your worst and tear into what's left of my soul.**

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Jaune sat on the bar stool, contemplating his past. He raised the four-ounce cup to his lips and let the whiskey slither down his throat. A gray figure came sauntering through the bar's doors, stumbled slightly on the way to the seat next to Jaune, then sat itself down.

"I'll have what the kid's having," Qrow growled at the bartender, then turned to Jaune, "You're the blondie who's traveling with my cute little niece, right?"

"Yeah," Jaune said as he downed the last of his drink then watched a hand refill the glass with more alcohol, "what about it?"

"I've been watching over you guys since you left patch," Qrow motioned to the bartender to put his drinks on Jaune's tab, "every night, you've been crying about your dead girlfriend. I get that she's pretty, but why not move on? I mean Ruby's there for you and I bet she's ready."

Jaune spat out his drink in surprise, "Me and Ruby? I could never do that. She's my best friend, and besides, I don't think she sees me that way."

"Oh yeah?" Qrow smirked, "how many times have you said that about Pyrrha in the past?"

Jaune stared into the brown poison first in realization, then dismissed the notion, "It's Ruby, she's more focused on doing the right thing and getting her team back together. I'm here for revenge, and the others are here for the ride, I guess."

"And what'll you do after you get your revenge, kid?" Qrow watched in amusement as Jaune's face contorted in drunken confusion.

"I'll cross that bridge when I get there," Jaune continued to sip his drink, "maybe leave it up to a coin toss."

"I'm surprised that you can even say toin coss," Qrow jested before taking a sip, causing Jaune to mumble between the two phrases.

Qrow chuckled as he slapped down a wad of lien cards and turned to the bartender before leaving, "This should take care of the tab, kick him out when he reaches his limit. Call Ruby when you can't walk kid."

"Toin coss," Jaune mumbled to himself as he continued to drink, "whatever."

The night moved on slowly as patrons trickled in and out, some loud, some quiet. Just like the change of patrons, so did Jaune's behavior with each group of customers. With one group, Jaune joined their conversation, even matching their level of sound. As the bar emptied, Jaune moved to the corner of the bar with two bottles of whiskey. Jaune picked up the half empty bottle and took a rather large swig, followed by a shiver to cope with the burning feeling of the alcohol. Through his hazy vision, he watched a familiar blonde figure, cloaked in a gray hood, walk in through the doors, then immediately joined Jaune at his booth.

Jaune's vision still hazy, he picked up the bottle, took a swig and put it down in front of the figure in front of him, never taking his eyes off the intruder. The stranger stayed silent as he helped himself and poured a portion into a glass cup.

"God dammit, boy, how long are you gonna stare at me like that for. Don't you know how to show some respect?" the figure scolded, irritation present in his voice. Jaune squinted at the speaker before taking one more sip then squinting again.

"Sorry dad," Jaune pointed to the bottle as he lifted it above his head to take several more gulps, "I can't really see very well, the room is kinda spinning. By the way, what are you doing here?"

"Seeing as I haven't seen you since you ran away from home with your grandfather's armor and his Crocea Mors, I thought I'd talk some sense into you," the old man sipped his whiskey as if it were coffee, "I guess now that you're a huntsman, the best word to use would be 'beat.'"

"How'd you even find me? I haven't spoken to you, mom, or any of the girls since I left," Jaune asked as he struggled with the peanuts from the bowl next to the whiskey.

"Well last month, imagine my surprise when your sister calls me," the older gentleman began his story, "She talks about how she met this great blacksmith in a village near Shion, and that he was talking about some blonde idiot that looked just like her, wearing some stupid Pumpkin Pete hoodie who ordered a new set of armor and upgraded a sword. Now imagine my surprise when she tells me that he tells of the same idiot, after leaving his sword and shield, then heads off with his group to go fight a Geist with a giant rock body."

"Qrow told you, didn't he?" Jaune interrupted his father's slew of insults.

"Now why'd you go and ruin the fun for," Jaune's father gave a hearty laugh, "I'm just saying, I'm surprised is all. You've grown into a real man, son. Either that, or I'd have to admit that my only son is an idiot for fighting Grimm without at least his sword."

"Nope, still an idiot and that idiot is still walking and drinking, see? I'm totally fine, dad," Jaune said as he got up to demonstrate his proficiency in his use of his own legs, only for him to stumble and land flat on his face.

"I can see that," the man chuckled as he continued to sip his whiskey, "I also see that you've picked up some nasty habits. Like refusing to use your aura properly, instead you forgo training it and you bumble around using its most basic abilities; embarrassing our family. Do you know why I didn't allow you to go to Beacon Academy, yet still allowed you to run away?"

"Besides making the point that you're a shitty father and you're always in control, just like good old papa Roux before he died?" Jaune laughed as he turned over, only to receive a kick to his armored ribs as a response.

"Don't you talk shit about your grandpa, you little shit," the cloaked man scolded, "Sure, he wasn't the kindest father, but he loved my siblings and I in his own way, the same way he loved all of his grandchildren, even if some of them were a little rebellious."

"He left us without a semblance, I heard from Ozpin that during the war, papa Roux was the idiot general who led his troops against Atlas without at least a gun," Jaune's anger and frustration turned into giggles before he passed out.

The old man sighed, pulled out a lien card and placed it on the table. He looked at Crocea Mors that leaned against the chair that Jaune had previously fallen from. Attaching the sheath to his left arm, he pulled the sword with his right and jerked his arm ever so slightly, extending the shield. He looked over the careful craftsmanship that has added significant weight to the weapon, then looked over his son's armor and smiled. Turning to the bartender, he let out a small laugh and happily, yet softly proclaimed, "This is Jaune Arc, he is my only son and the grandson to my father, Roux Arc," he sheathed the sword and collapsed Crocea Mors, clipping it to Jaune's belt, before taking him by the leg to drage him out, "He may be an idiot, and the family disappointment before he was sixteen, but the boy does have a good taste in armor and weapons. Who knows, maybe the boy'll be better than his old man. He just might be stronger than I was when I was his age."

"He sure is a better leader than you ever will be, Bruno. At the very least, he's got the potential to," Qrow leaned against the wall next to the bar's entrance as Bruno dragged Jaune out of the bar, "He's definitely stronger than you, I can tell you I witnessed that. He once held a man up while he was grasping onto that fancy shield, and the idiot was still standing."

"The boy can definitely drink too," Bruno laughed and dropped Jaune's leg after his head was clear from the door's pathway, "he drank away your wad of lien and still managed to rack up a hefty tab that I still had to pay. On the bright side, I snagged us the last of his whiskey, got an extra flask?"

"What do you need my flask for," Qrow reluctantly pulled out an empty flask, "I only have so much of these."

"Oh please, your shoes are probably flasks that are still filled," Bruno said as he snatched the flask from Qrow's hand before filling it, "It's not for me, it's for the boy. It is his whiskey after all, we're just going to take most of it off his hands."

"So, you're not gonna do the head thing that your old timer did to you?" Qrow asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Bruno's demeanor grew cold at the sound of the question, he angrily screwed the cap back onto the flask.

"You know what I mean," Qrow said in a knowing voice as he crossed his arms, "I watched when Ozpin helped Old Man Arc do it to you."

"Yes, I do know what you mean!" Bruno yelled then sighed before sliding the flask into Jaune's belt pack, "It was my graduation from Beacon, I was twenty-one years old and I had trained all my life up until that point before I could even begin to bear the pain of receiving these powers. Jaune is only seventeen, he doesn't have the experience to handle it."

Qrow put his hand on Bruno's shoulder to comfort the old man, "Your kid's not talented, and he barely makes the cut to be a leader. He's pretty stupid too. He's had no handicaps in life to get him to where he is now. He has the strength, but barely the skill, that family thing that you do to his head will fix that."

"He has to be ready. I'm probably Remnant's shittiest father, but that's no excuse to needlessly endanger my son like this," Bruno cradled his son's face, seeing part of himself in Jaune's face.

"I know what it's like watching your little ones grow up, believe me. I've got two nieces, one of which has a crush on this moron and she doesn't even realize it yet," Qrow chuckled at the notion, "Dangerous, yes, but not needlessly. If you haven't heard from the other villages yet, they're going after Cinder, and by extension….."

"Salem," Bruno finished the sentence in disgust.

"That's right, big guy," Qrow patted Bruno on the back to calm the huntsman down, "Sooner or later he's going to be fighting another one of her big four, and later, the bitch herself. How many years has it been since you received your gift from Roux?"

"Sixty," Bruno spat, "it makes a little over a thousand years down this Arc's bloodline."

"The last time you saw him, it was over a year ago right before he ran away from home. Jaune is going to need it, and it's not an 'if' it's a 'when,'" Qrow ranted, slowly raising his voice with every word, "and when they face Salem, he's going to need it if you and his mother want to see him alive when he comes home, and he really needs it if he's the one protecting my niece!"

"Fine, I'll do it!" Bruno screamed to shut Qrow up, "I'll do the procedure, but you need to call Ruby to make sure he lives. It'll drain most of my aura, but I'll live. Since he's still young, the fusion of aura reserves will cause him to start losing small pieces of himself. Ruby is someone he's close to, so having her help will make him stronger."

Qrow nodded his head and pulled out the boy's scroll and dialed Ruby's number. Bruno pressed his left hand to the middle of Jaune's chest while his right hand cradled Jaune's left temple. He pictured a large swirling mass of yellow energy, from which a comparably small amount of white energy emerged from. Bruno left the white mass of energy in his mindscape, making sure it's enough for himself before leading the yellow mass to Jaune's mindscape where the young knight's consciousness was waiting.

"Dad?" Jaune asked, perplexed, disoriented and oblivious to what was taking place.

"There's no time, Jaune," Bruno's projection winced in pain, "Show me your aura and I will show you what our semblance is."

"I don't know how," Jaune tried to concentrate, but failed then proceeded to panic. Bruno punched the boy's face, sending a shock of information through.

"Try it now, for fuck's sake," Bruno shouted, "I can't hold this forever, and it can't go back."

Understanding the situation immediately, Jaune focused inwards and pictured his aura. Jaune inhaled deeply, then exhaled sharply, causing a white-hot flame to emerge from his chest. The flames shot out of the knight then expanded rapidly, growing to size of the yellow mass of energy. Bruno stepped back to admire his son's resolve, then gave an approving smile. He let go of the energy that was already trying to be pulled into Jaune's aura.

The yellow ball of energy began to orbit Jaune's orb of aura and unravel. The tip of the golden strand circled the white ball until it had flattened into a sort of ring. As the strand started to spin into Jaune's aura, the flames began to burn hotter. The golden strands of aura finally contacted the white sun that Jaune's aura had become, and he gave an unholy, blood curdling. Bruno watched on and laughed, overwhelmed with pride and joy.

"Jaune!" Bruno gave an understanding yell, "This is our semblance. You, me, my father, his fathers before him. It is called 'The Perfect Inheritance' and is the crown jewel of our family. It all started one day when a lowly soldier tried to save his family. You'll soon see that he could only save his son, but wanting his son to be better than him, he made a wish. That wish was to pass on what he knew as a warrior to the rest of his family, so he met with a wizard and that wizard made it happen."

In his mind, Jaune watched countless times, from father to son, so forth and so forth, the passing of the family's gift. The wizard was always present to watch and supervise the operation. He watched each moment, sometimes it was a joyous occasion such as a first Grimm slain or a first deer killed, sometimes it was out of desperation such as a way to give the more able-bodied son a chance to fight for his life, but the only constant was Ozpin's face. He watched and understood the wars between tribes, sometimes villages, even between the kingdoms. The next constant was Salem's darkness, he watched her as she seemed to cackle at him, taking pleasure in his pain. The next constant was each companion. There was always a companion. The torrent of memories quickly flooded his mind, but Jaune accepted it all in. A millennium of memories, history, power and battle experience, Jaune wanted it all. He needed it all.

"Uncle Qrow, I got your call and I got here as quickly as possible," Ruby slowed her sprint, petals scattering in her wake, "Who is this man and what happened to Jaune?"

"There's no time, Ruby put your left hand here and your right hand on his temple," Bruno growled, then concentrated for another minute to talk to Jaune in his mindscape, 'Son, I've done all I can and I'm going to leave you now and let your friend take over. I know I don't say this much, if at all, and I don't know when I'll get the next chance to tell you this, but I'm proud of you. I saw your team fight during the Vytal festival, though your leadership skills need a bit of polishing up and you're still an idiot, I've never been happier as a father to see you fighting for what you wanted. I love you and don't be a good man, be a better man than I'll ever be. The only reason why I didn't agree with sending you off to Beacon is that I thought the family gift will give you everything you needed, but I realized that it wouldn't have given you the friends that you have now. Keep them close and protect them as best as you can. Goodbye Jaune.'

As quickly as Bruno faded from Jaune's sight, Ruby appeared in his place. Quickly she inspected her surroundings to find Jaune's ever expanding aura, burning brighter and hotter than Remnant's sun. She jumped as the ball suddenly expanded. She looked up and screamed, "Okay, I see Jaune, what do I do now?"

"There are going to be tears in his aura, little bits of white flames poking through the gold," Qrow's voice came out of nowhere, then appeared next to Ruby.

"Ruby? Is anyone there? Dad? Qrow?" Jaune pleas were weak as he lied on the ground under the ball, light being expelled from his eyes, "Please help, it burns so much."

"I'm here to help kiddo, but you're the only one who can be hands on here if you want the idiot to live," Qrow's feet lifted off the ground and flew to inspect the ball of aura, to which Ruby followed.

"What can I do to help?" Ruby frantically grasped onto the lapels of her uncle's shirt, "Is it even possible for me to help?"

"Ruby, I need you to calm down first," Qrow quickly cupped Ruby's face, lightly slapping her in the process, "I need you to carefully manipulate your aura into the shape of a needle and thread, but you can't do that if you're not calm."

Ruby closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She pictured in her hand a needle connected to an endless piece of thread that came from a spool deep inside her. As she opened her eyes, she saw exactly as she pictured. "Show me where to patch him up," Ruby said as she wore her confidence on her face.

"There are eight major tears right now," Qrow noted as he inspected the aura, then pointed at the biggest tear, "Right here."

Ruby took the red translucent needle and threaded it through. As her aura pierced Jaune's, he felt a flood of her emotions circulate his mind. He saw jealousy, envy, anger, sadness and lonliness. He realized her smile had just been a mask of the demons she'd been hiding from everyone. Ruby finished threading her aura through the wound and began to tug the thread, causing a wave of relief to crash over Jaune. As Ruby continued to work, each bit of aura left behind left a bit of Ruby's memories, emotions and feelings behind. He saw bits of important memories and felt the emotions behind each of them like when she was told her mother had left and the sadness and depression she had spiraled into. He saw mostly pieces of her first day at Beacon, he felt the anxiety that had overcome her, and the loneliness she had brought along. He felt the pain of the dust explosion and the helplessness as she lied in the aftermath. He felt her heart skip a beat when he seemingly appeared out of nowhere and her gratitude towards him when they quickly became friends. With each tear being tugged closed, the pain began to fade, relieving Jaune slowly.

Dropping to her knees next to Jaune's unconscious body, Ruby doubled over then looked over at Jaune. His breathing began to slow and his face slowly relaxed until he no longer appeared to be in pain. Acting quickly, she pulled the projection of his body out of the way and into the corner where she cradled the young man while watching the aura expand.

With Bruno's help, Qrow brought the two unconscious teens back to the inn. Bruno insisted on dragging Jaune's body, while Qrow walked along the sidewalk with Ruby over his shoulder. Before putting the two to bed, Bruno took care to remove Jaune's armor for him, then gently set him down next to Ruby.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Qrow asked the older huntsman.

"My son's aura is still expanding, Ruby needs to be there," Bruno explained, to which Qrow relented before setting Ruby's fingers on Jaune's temples.

"Just this once because he's Ruby's friend," Qrow grumbled before leaping out of the window. Bruno just simply smiled before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

In their sleep, Jaune had wrapped an arm around Ruby's waist and cushioned her head with his other arm. Likewise, Ruby had snaked one arm around his neck and had locked her fingers in his hair. In their shared mindscape, Ruby sighed as she ran her fingers though Jaune's hair, "Thank God you're alright. I felt all your pain, Jaune, and I know you've seen mine, but everything's going to be okay."


	5. Chapter 4- Something Adorkable

**Author's note: Two Chapters within twenty four hours? I'm not as think as you drunk I am. I've done a lot of reading in my lifetime thus far, so a lot of elements from other writing styles may have bled into my writing style, so I'm not sure if that counts as plagiarism or if I'm just heavily inspired by the works that I have read until this point. If it does count as plagiarism, I apologize and will edit the parts that seem like plagiarism. Plus, half the time I'm drunk, so the majority of the time I'm writing, I tend not to let it sit before I go back to edit.**

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Jaune opened his eyes to see Ruby's face just inches away from his own. He slowly moved his face out of Ruby's lap, careful to not wake the sleeping beauty. Jaune stood up to face what his aura had become. He stared in awe as his aura had expanded to a large golden orb embroidered in rubies, surrounded by a swirling storm of white and red energies. The knight reached out to the ball, as if the ball was drawing his consciousness in. As the tips of his gauntlets were about to graze the surface of the orb, Ruby grabbed and pulled his arm back.

"What are you doing?" Ruby demanded, snapping Jaune out of his trance.

"I don't know," Jaune managed to mumble, still dazed from the irradiating power of the orb, "I feel like it's calling out to me. Like it's a part of me."

"Jaune that is a part of you," Ruby reminded, "It's your aura, your very essence. I guess now that I'm involved, we're linked in a way. Just don't let yourself get consumed."

Jaune readied himself and reached out to touch the orb. As the metal tip of his gauntlet's finger plates touched the surface of the orb, the finger sank slightly, popping the orb. The explosion of energy quickly cooled and expanded into a light show of dense energy which then began to swirl and condense into a small form. The white energy formed a rectangular space, then the golden aura coated the prism in a thin golden border. The strings of Ruby's aura pierced the object, binding the three layers on one side, then piercing it through the middle countless times. The object, still clothed in the light of the auras, came down between Jaune's curious arms. The light dispersed with a soft flash and a light warm gust that passed through both Jaune and Ruby and revealed a leather-bound book with bright red binding threads. The front had the silhouette of Ruby's flower embroidered in white, while red filled the cracks to complete the circle and the crescent from the Arc family's emblem formed the sun in the background being eclipsed by the circle that the flower formed. Jaune curiously opened the book to reveal the first page only to see a hologram of his family tree and his lineage through his father. He poked Bruno's face on the lineage which collapsed the hologram and revealed a recorded message of the man.

"Jaune, my son, I don't know what form your aura is going to take, but I left a piece of mine so I can leave this message," the hologram spoke, "Like I should have explained before I merged the family's aura with yours, our semblance is called 'Perfect Inheritance.' We have the ability to transfer power down through the lineage. Think of it as the power that you grow in your base form is duplicated and added into the family's pool of aura which reinforces your own. Of course, this power can't be turned off, you can control it. Because of the circumstances of why I haven't passed this power down to any of your sisters, I wanted to make sure I inspected all of you and look out for something special. I gave a little bit of this power to each of your sisters, that is the reason why there were tears. This is why I had Ruby help seal the tears. This is the first time in our lineage where something like this has ever happened, so I have no idea how it's going to turn out because some of Ruby's aura will remain in you."

The holographic message disappeared and returned to projecting the Arc family tree. Ruby leaned in and poked a red ball of light that switched the color of the projection to red and displayed the Rose-Xiao-long family tree which ended with Ruby's face with a dotted line connecting to a picture of Jaune's face.

"That's weird, why would a book, created with my aura, still have a display to your family tree?" Jaune asked out loud.

"That's because I had to leave a bit of my aura to seal yours," Ruby twiddled her fingers and pushed the tips of her index fingers together, a slight blush forming across her cheeks, "I told you that we're now connected, in a way."

"It seems that your family tree is the only thing left in here by your aura," Jaune said as he swiped through the pages, lightly skimming through the contents of the centuries of memories, "I only see the memories of my family and my own. I don't see any of yours."

"You're trying to find some of my embarrassing memories, aren't you?" Ruby stared accusingly, her face turning red, "Since my memories aren't there, too bad."

"I don't know, probably," Jaune coyly said as he shut the book and smiled to hold back his laughter.

"Dammit Jaune, I'm ready to wake up," Ruby said after slapping her knight.

"Ow," Jaune recoiled from the assault, "I don't know how to. I didn't even know that this was a dream."

"Just put away the book," Ruby said as she snatched the book from his hands, which she shoved into his chest. The book of aura phased right through Jaune's armor and disappeared into his chest, "To be honest, I wasn't sure that was going to work."

Ruby's vision went black as she began to fall. She tried her best to reorient herself, but found herself just hopelessly flailing about. As she felt herself turning to face what she thought was down, a pillar of light came shining through. Ruby did her best to fall towards the light, and as she began to approach the bottom, a chair came into view. Ruby's vision went black once more as a jolt ran through her body and the sensation of falling came to a sudden stop.

"Should we ask when they're awake?" Nora asked, perplexed as Ren was at the sight of Jaune and Ruby.

"Maybe we shouldn't," Ren suggested, "we could be stepping into a mine field if we did."

Team sloth went about their day, starting with Ren cooking breakfast and Nora eating what came out of the pan almost immediately. Then exploring more of the kingdom of Mistral, doing the things they couldn't do when they were kids. The two did their best to catch up on the childhood the Nuckelavee had stolen from them both. The couple had come up to a high point in the city with a magnificent view of the specks of city that seemed to compliment the surrounding nature.

"Nora, we've been looking out for each other for so long," Ren turned to his partner in crime, "It's been so long that I can barely remember a time that didn't have you right next to me."

"I know, Ren," Nora smiled as she stared into his eyes, "at first I was scared that you'd find me annoying, and once you had enough of me, you'd abandon me. But you held onto me, even when I wasn't even strong enough to hold your hand."

"You were all I had," Ren cupped Nora's hand in his, "there's no way I can ever imagine my future without you in it, so will you be in the rest of my future?"

"Ooohhh, Ren," Nora smiled and held back her tears, "It's only been a week since we've been like together, together. You couldn't have waited until we got to know each other more intimately?"

"You're so silly," Ren chuckled a bit, "We've kept this waiting for too long, we already do know each other so intimately. You know my thoughts before I even think it, I see you as a part of me."

"Ren, you've been my rock for so long, I just don't know what to say," Nora tried her best to hold back the tears that had already fallen, "I lied, I do know what I want to say, but I don't know how to."

"Then don't," Ren reached up to Nora's cheeks to dry them, "You've probably said it before, or you'll eventually know how to say it. If it's the latter, then I'll wait as long as you need before you'll be able to say it."

"Are you asking what I think you're asking?" Nora cupped her mouth, "Please, Ren, you'll make me cry."

"Then let me be a little selfish and ask you to cry for me, because you're happy. I'm sure at one point or another we both just knew that we're going to walk through life together," Ren said as he got down on one knee, before producing a green box wrapped in a pink bow, "Nora Valkyrie, my own goddess of war, my best friend, my first and only love. Will you continue being my angel until you can take me to heaven?"

"Oh my God, Ren, that's so cheesy," Nora managed to breath out through her ugly sobs, "I love you so much, but I hate you for making me cry."

"I don't hear a 'no,'" Ren teased as he unwrapped the bow, plucked the ring from its cradle and slid the ring onto Nora's left ring finger.

"Dammit, Ren," Nora's sobs slowed into a sniffle, "Even if I really wanted to hate you, I just can't say no. You're the only one I'll ever be with, I just can't leave you."

"I know," Ren smirked as he got up to wrap his arms around Nora, picking her up with a kiss and twirling her around. After putting his fiancé down, Ren threaded his fingers through hers before guiding them back to the inn.

The two walked into Jaune and Ruby's room to find them already awake and awkwardly staring at each other, whilst still cuddling. Nora spotted the blush starting to form on the younger couples' faces and couldn't help but smile and pull out her scroll to take a photo. "Should I have to ask about asking about this?" Nora giggled.

"Neither of us are actually sure," Jaune tried to mutter out.

"To be frank, I don't think either of us actually wants to move," Ruby admitted as she stared into Jaune's eyes.

"Now that I think about it, this is kinda comfortable," Jaune pondered.

"Well, I cooked pancakes this morning, help yourselves," Ren waved as he led Nora into the other room.

"Sorry, I took all the syrup," Nora shouted, unbuckling her belt as she followed Ren.

"A-are you hungry?" Ruby stuttered.

"Is that even a question?" Jaune teased after hearing an audible groan come from Ruby's belly.

"Syrup first?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, Syrup," Jaune muttered as he began to shift to untangle himself from Ruby. The two took a moment to sit next to each other on the side of the bed. Ruby turned her head to look at Jaune's face, and found it coming closer to hers. Ruby's body onto Jaune's as she leaned into his face while puckering her lips. Ruby held herself over Jaune, eyeing his cheek, and lowered herself to peck his cheek with her lips.

"Syrup?" Ruby smiled.

"Syrup," Jaune said confidently before raising his face to kiss Ruby's forehead. Pushing Ruby onto her feet gave her momentum to pull Jaune to his. After the two were upright, they laced on their shoes and went off into the cool breeze of Mistral's Autumn afternoons.

"So, am I linked to you, or are you linked to me?" Jaune asked as Ruby pulled him along.

"I think we're just linked together because I shared my aura with you," Ruby slowed to think of her response, "In a way, I guess you can't live without me?"

"Isn't that the same as being married?" Jaune asked nonchalantly.

"I wouldn't protest to that," Ruby teased and turned her head forward to hide her red face, "you know, we're both legal in Vacuo."

"Maybe we should give Vacuo a visit," Jaune entertained the thought, "The headmaster at Shade should know about Salem's plans."

"It would be the responsible thing to do, right?" Ruby nervously asked, "Tell me I'm right, Jaune?"

"Yeah, Ruby," Jaune smiled at the thought, "we still have business to take care of, so I'm pretty sure the responsible thing to do would have to be wait until we can move on to that point."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ruby dejectedly sighed, with hope still in her heart. The girl looked up to find themselves walking aimlessly lost through the city, "Do you just wanna go to a restaurant, you have the lien, right?"

"Yeah, you have a place in mind, right?" Jaune asked, "I've just been following this whole time."

"Following me? You've been mumbling random directions this entire time," Ruby jokingly argued.

"Well, I guess I'll just pick a random restaurant," Jaune grabbed Ruby's hand and marched aimlessly down the street. Ruby couldn't help but giggle as she followed along with Jaune's charade.


	6. Departed, Yes Departing, Maybe?

**Author's Note: Wow, things are starting to get busy again. I guess I'll give you guys an update on where I'm at in terms of writing. I'm currently rewriting and continuing Coming to Terms, I've planned ahead on this story. I've been reading a ton of other stories for inspiration, some here on this site, some unrelated stories on other sites, and mostly from the books that I'm currently reading. I might disappear for another several days because things are starting to pick up speed in my life, both as a professional and as a student. So from your (hopefully) favorite shit-bag, enjoy another chapter of a mediocre at best story. On a side note, I wanna see how many people know what song the lyrics are from in this chapter.**

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Yang sped down the forest path, stopping at the fork in the road. She looked up at the sign that pointed in opposite directions, one where Kuroyuri was crossed out and written to the side was the word 'Bandits' in what she assumed was spray paint, the other pointed to Mistral. The brawler contemplated on giving chase to what might not be what she was searching for. Turning her bike towards the path marked 'Mistral,' she smirked and thought out loud, "You are in so much trouble when I find you."

Yang followed the path for several hours until she came upon the gates of a small town. Finding a safe place to store her bike, she chained it to the post, securing the body of her bike. She looked around for a place to eat, settling for a noodle shop with an eerily familiar old man running the register. Without saying a word, she looked at the old man, nodded and slid a lien card across the counter. As she gulped down her cup of water, she quietly observed a rather large faunus blacksmith waltz over to the counter to ask for his usual.

The blacksmith looked over to greet Yang, "Howdy there, miss. I don't think I've seen your face around here before, what brings you out here?"

"I'm looking for my sister," Yang replied, "She must have come through here. I'm guessing you must have spotted her?"

"There was a group of huntsmen that came through here about a month ago," the faunus recalled, "Two young men and two girls, one looked like he was one of us, the other was a blond kid, one of the girls was pretty short with red highlights, and the other girl was an energetic ginger. They said they were headed to Haven academy, not sure why after what happened to Beacon."

"I don't think they know either," Yang commented, "Thanks for the info."

Yang looked down at the large bowl of noodles set down in front of her. Picking up her fork, she sighed and thought to herself, "What the hell are you doing, Ruby?"

Jaune smirked as he kept his eyes fixated on Ruby. With weapons drawn, they circled each other, waiting for either to make the first move. "Don't go easy like last time," Jaune bantered, striking a nerve.

Ruby's face contorted with rage, irritation easily forcing its way through her body, the reaper launched herself and prepared for a high-speed swing. As she followed through, saw Jaune's silhouette flicker for less than a moment and felt no resistance as her scythe passed through his body. Stopping herself several feet behind Jaune, she turned to find the knight unscathed and still wearing his cocky grin. Ruby gritted her teeth and began to circle Jaune using her semblance. Hoping her speed would confuse her sparring partner, she began firing rounds at different angles, aiming to score a few hits.

Jaune's smile faded as he closed his eyes and concentrated. His perception of time began to slow once more as he sped his thoughts, focusing his aura to the soles of his feet. Opening his eyes, he saw the first bullet moving towards him at a decelerated pace, to which Jaune simply cocked his head to one side, letting the bullet whiz past his ear.

' _I've always wanted to do that,'_ Jaune chuckled to himself before turning to find himself surrounded by a circle of bullets. Jaune pulled up his shield to bat the closer bullets out of his way before Jumping backwards between two bullets, one of which had grazed the bit of unprotected flesh on his right arm, though, still protected by aura, the pain was still present. Using his soles of aura, Jaune sped up to intercept Ruby's path as she fruitlessly attempted to ward him off with more bullets, only to be met with the edge of Jaune's shield. Ruby closed her eyes to brace herself as the shield's edge made contact with her midsection, causing her to fly in the opposite direction.

Jaune took off running in Ruby's direction and past her to catch the flying reaper. Misinterpreting the gesture as an attack, Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose to fire a round to propel herself towards Jaune, readying a strike as a battle cry escaped her mouth. Using the momentum of her fall, Ruby turned her body and swung as hard as she could, her scythe extended to its war-scythe form. Seeing an opening, Jaune tucked and rolled as he dodged forward, allowing Ruby to sink the blade of her weapon into the ground. While Ruby struggled to unearth her scythe, she quickly let go, hunched over and brought her forearms together in front of her chest to protect against flip-kick from Jaune, which sent her tumbling away from Crescent Rose.

As Ruby struggled to get up, Jaune sheathed Crocea Mors, took off his gauntlets, and threw the three articles to the side. Ruby panted, but slowed her breathing to quickly calm herself. At the end of her exhale, she inhaled sharply and adopted her sister's brawler stance, to which Jaune mirrored Ruby's southpaw stance but lightly bounced diagonally. The two advanced carefully as the air between them grew tense.

Jaune threw a right cross, to which Ruby threw her body along with the punch while pivoting on her right foot and bringing her left leg up and over towards Jaune's face, dodging the blow. Jaune could do nothing but watch Ruby's foot approach the defenseless side of his face, knocking the knight to his left. Jaune stuck his left foot out, catching himself and swiftly regaining his composition before catching Ruby's right hook. Determined not to let herself be beaten again, Ruby swung her body, wrapping both legs around his arms and snaking them behind Jaune's back before giving a hard pull. Unable to endure the pain and maintain the concentration to hold Ruby up, Jaune fell backwards, hoping the fall would cause the girl to let go.

"Okay, you win this round," Jaune screamed out through the pain coursing through his arm and shoulder.

"Alright, that's one to one," Ruby jeered as she let go of Jaune's arm, causing him to audibly sigh in relief.

"You didn't have to take my arm off like that," Jaune nagged as he swung his left arm in a circle while massaging his shoulder to relieve the residual pain.

"That's payback for the bruised rib," Ruby shrugged as she attempted to pull Crescent Rose out of the ground. After struggling for a while, Ruby sighed and relented, "A little help?"

"Sure thing," Jaune stood up and gripped the handle of the weapon with his good arm, pulling the scythe out effortlessly. Jaune folded up Crescent Rose and reached to clip the weapon to the small of Ruby's back again, but was taken out of his hands.

"I- I got it, Jaune," Ruby said, the red tint on her face hidden by the brightness of the rising sun, "You don't need to do this for me."

"Yeah," Jaune played it off as best as he could while clumsily walking over to his weapons and gauntlets, "Force of habit, I guess."

"I think I'm ready for a shower before I get some laundry done today," Ruby stretched out and leaned backwards, falling onto the soft grass.

"I never thought I'd ever hear someone excited to do laundry," Jaune said as he sat down next to Ruby.

"Jaune, after living in the same outfit for almost a month, I think I'm ready to wear clean underwear again," Ruby argued as she got up and hugged her legs.

"I could go for a cold shower too," Jaune sighed as he wiped the sweat from his brow, "One more round before breakfast?"

Ruby smirked and unfolded Crescent Rose as she stood up, "You're on."

Ren set the plate of pancakes next to the plates of bacon and eggs, taking off his apron with the message 'Do Nothing To The Chef' written across the front, he sat across a still tired Nora who sipped on her mug of coffee. Without saying a word, he grabbed an empty plate and set Nora's usual stack of seven pancakes with a side of some eggs and a few strips of bacon before making his own plate. As Nora lazily shoveled a rather large slice of the pancakes, Jaune and Ruby drudged through the inn's kitchen door and collapsed in their seats. Ruby piled several pancakes and a large portion of the eggs onto her plate while Jaune swallowed the last handful of jerky left in his mouth before taking a moderate amount of eggs and bacon along with two pancakes.

"You two shouldn't overdo it, we still don't know where to go after talking to professor Lionheart," Ren reminded as he lifted two medium sized pieces of pancakes to his mouth, "or if we'll need to fight our way out of here."

"If we have to fight our way out of here, I'd like to make sure I'm ready to get us out alive," Jaune argued, intense determination roared in his eyes, "besides, we all need to get better. The closer we get to the root of everything, the stronger each thing we come up against will be."

"Jaune's just bummed out because I kicked his butt twice before breakfast," Ruby gave a teasing smile in Jaune's direction, bacon hanging out of her lips, before turning her attention back to her breakfast.

"Since when were you any good at martial arts?" Jaune shot back, "I thought Yang was supposed to be better at fighting without a weapon?"

"That doesn't mean my dad didn't teach me anything," Ruby teased more.

"You know what?" Jaune stood up, finger in the air, mouth agape, but unable to vent his frustration, "whatever."

Ruby smirked at Jaune, who sat down in defeat before angrily stabbing at his eggs. Ruby took a few more bites to let the tension die down before speaking up, "Today, Uncle Qrow is going to take us to meet with Headmaster Lionheart. With his help, hopefully we can get some information on Cinder, and a ride to Atlas."

"Let's not forget about this Salem person," Nora Chimed in, her plate empty and her face seemed more energetic, "She seems to be at the center of all this."

"That's right," Jaune spoke up, "We'll decide on what our next move is after our meeting tonight, for now, Ruby and I will go out and pick up some supplies. Ren, you and Nora go ask around for information about what the White Fang is up to. Don't be afraid to use some not-so-careful persuasion if things get rough."

"Let's meet a couple hours before our meeting. If things don't go how we want it to, we're gonna need to be ready to leave when push comes to shove," Ruby added to the plan, "We don't know if Cinder or Salem or whoever's behind all this, we don't know if their forces have gotten to Headmaster Lionheart, so we need to be ready."

The breakfast meeting ended shortly after, the group coming to a mutual agreement with their two leaders. The team split, Ruby and Jaune headed into the marketplaces of Mistral while Ren and Nora departed towards the valley in the opposite direction.

"Be careful, remember what Qrow said," Jaune warned one last time before the other pair faded from sight, "the lien speaks for itself, but there are some dangerous figures around here."

"Don't worry, Jaune,"Ren assured, "I grew up around these parts, so I should remember my way around."

Jaune anxiously watched as the remaining members of his team disappeared into the bustle of the city around them. Ruby wrapped around Jaune's good arm to comfort the knight, "They'll be fine. C'mon, we have work to do."

"Yeah, they're better at fighting than I am anyways," Jaune feigned a smile, going along with Ruby's charade of joy.

The pair of leaders walked the streets, Ruby eyeing every piece of rifle modification while Jaune carried the bulk of supplies. As he waited outside yet another gun shop, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar glimpse of white, to which he unconsciously followed. Ruby exited the shop to find Jaune turning the corner. A slight tinge of panic washed over her face as she immediately gave chase to. Her eyes darted to every shop entrance before spotting the orange of Jaune's hood before the door closed shut. The reaper took a moment to compose herself before calmly walking over and entering the shop.

The door closed behind her with the ring of a bell, the sound of an unfamiliar instrument rang throughout the store along with Jaune's voice in an unfamiliar pitch. She walked around a shelf to find their bags of supplies in a pile at the base of a stool, Jaune holding what seemed to be an extremely small guitar. The chords Jaune played sounded cheerful, but the lyrics she heard contradicted the feeling. With his eyes closed, lost within the lyrics of the song, Jaune's face twisted in pain as he approached the chorus.

" _One final shoulder_

 _Here before we're none_

 _And then there were none_

 _This last call could be all we can do for each other_

 _Embrace for a dear old friend_

 _Bring wine to bed_

 _We'll toast what could have been_

 _My dearly departed_

 _To my dearly departed"_

Jaune opened his eyes as he inhaled to continue on to the second verse to find Ruby tearing up in front of him. He stumbled on his words before awkwardly putting the instrument back on its display.

"That was beautiful," Ruby sniffled, wiping away the tears before they fell.

"It's nothing, just some thoughts that I didn't know how to get out," Jaune's gaze fell from Ruby's face to the floor, "I just wish I could have done something."

Bringing her hands to meet his, Jaune met Ruby's eyes once again, "It's just me, Jaune. Let it all out."

Jaune nodded before picking back up the instruments. After playing several measures of chords, he inhaled and continued the song.

" _I don't know how to mend it_

 _But this chapter ended_

 _When all of my plans have depended on you_

 _But at least tonight we still pretend_

 _Hold each other close like it's not the end_

 _And you can send me balloons_

 _And we can laugh at the doom_

 _We both thought of that_

 _Doesn't it say something too_

 _Oh, my dearly departed_

 _My dearly departed_

 _We never sent the cards_

 _They're all still on the table_

 _Wanna throw them out_

 _But I'm just not able_

 _My dearly departed_

 _My dearly departed"_

Jaune quivered as he inhaled, putting the instrument back in its place, "C'mon, we still have lots of stuff to pick up before we see Lionheart."

"Yeah," Ruby agreed softly, "Why'd you come in here anyway?"

"I thought I saw someone," Jaune answered as he gathered their bags of supplies, "But I lost them when I turned the corner, so I decided to kill some time while you check out weapon mods that you can't buy."

"One day I'll be able to afford all the attachments I want," Ruby pouted.

"But today is not that day," Jaune bantered as he walked beside his partner for the moment, only to be stopped by the figure he was chasing.

"Jaune, Ruby?" the figure smiled, "I thought it was you two."


	7. A Lot Has Happened Since Beacon Fell

**Author's Note: So, I'm not dead yet. That's a thing. I honestly didn't think I'd continue writing fanfics, but here's another chapter for you guys. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted ecstatically before jumping to hug her former partner.

"It's good to see you too, Ruby," Weiss reluctantly responded.

"It's so good to see you," Ruby continued, "I missed you and Blake, and Yang was busy moping around- "

"I thought you were in Atlas with your father," Jaune interjected as Ruby continued with her rant.

"I was, up until a few weeks ago," Weiss explained as she prevented Ruby from climbing onto her back, "let's just say home life in an upscale Dust mogul's mansion isn't the life I wanted for myself."

"Well, what's the situation in Atlas?" Jaune continued to prod for information.

"Ironwood placed a trade embargo on Dust indefinitely, and my father didn't really take kindly to it. In his attempt to quickly smooth things over with the other kingdoms, father threw a charity concert," Weiss reported.

"How'd that turn out?" Jaune inquired as he opened the door for his two companions.

"I might have ruined the party," Weiss smirked as she recalled the incident.

"Oh?" Ruby teased, "Doth my ears deceive me? Did I just hear the Ice Queen crashed a party?"

"Oh, quiet you," Weiss shot back at Ruby.

"I'll have to agree with Ruby on this one," Jaune defended, "that doesn't sound like you at all."

"I just didn't agree with how the overprivileged viewed us," Weiss crossed her arms in defiance.

"Us?" Ruby questioned, "Aren't you one of them?"

" _They_ don't know what we've been through," Weiss shot back, "Atlas' elite sit back in their cushy mansions while _we_ huntsmen and huntresses risk our lives to keep them safe."

"What she means, Ruby, is that they can't possibly understand what we've had to go through since Beacon Fell," Jaune interrupted, coming to Weiss' defense, "You're one of us now because you chose to fight, _they_ probably haven't even come close to touching a weapon in their entire lives, isn't that right, Weiss?"

"Y-yeah, you are," Weiss stuttered in agreement, taken aback by Jaune's response, "I didn't expect that from you, of all people. To be honest, I expected you to say something stupid like some disgusting pick up line."

"Okay, one, ouch. Was I really that much of a douche? And two, a lot has happened since Beacon fell, I couldn't stay as the loveable idiot forever," Jaune trailed off, his gaze falling to the ground, failing to notice Weiss slow down to walk next to Ruby.

"Your use of the word 'loveable' is debatable," Weiss started before Ruby lightly jabbed her elbow into her ribs, "Ruby, what?!"

"Go easy on him, he still blames himself for Pyrrha's death," Ruby whispered into Weiss' ear.

"Oh my God, is he okay?" Weiss answered back in a hushed voice.

"I'm not exactly sure about that," Ruby said, averting her eyes from Weiss' gaze as her face grew warmer, "A lot _has_ happened since Beacon fell. Things just haven't been the same."

Weiss' eyes darted to Jaune then back to Ruby's still ruby face, disbelief plastered all over her own, "No way. No fucking way. You and-"

"Shut up," Ruby hissed as she clamped her hands over Weiss' mouth.

"You know I can hear both of you, right?" Jaune said, keeping his gaze ahead of himself.

"Really? So, you know what we're talking about?" Ruby hesitantly asked as she felt Weiss smirk under her hands.

"I know you're trying to get Weiss to be nice to me since Pyrrha died and everything, but I'm fine if you don't want to be bothered with watching how you act around me," Jaune faked his best smile before turning around, "I miss how things used to be too."

"Uh, yeah, Weiss was just about to say something like that, weren't you, _Weiss_?" Ruby tried her best to play it off, cautiously removing her hands from her former partner's face.

"Yeah, I was going to say something along those lines until _someone_ rudely interrupted," Weiss turned her head towards Ruby to hide her face from Jaune, the knowing smirk still present on her face. The heiress winked before whispering as quietly as possible, "You and I need to talk later, I need to know how it happened."

"No, Weiss, it's not like that-"

Ruby started to whisper back before Weiss turned her attention to the blonde knight ahead of the pair, "I've explained why I'm here, I wanna hear your story."

"We're going after Cinder and her group," Ruby answered for Jaune, "My uncle Qrow told us that their tracks led all the way here, so we're going to meet with professor Lionheart."

"Since we don't know if the enemy has infiltrated Haven like they did with Beacon, we're piling up supplies in case we need to fight our way out," Jaune explained, "it would be great if you could join us."

"Nothing's waiting for me back at Atlas," Weiss stared begrudgingly at the sidewalk, "I guess I should make a name for myself sooner or later."

"I wouldn't say nothing kiddo," Qrow walked up behind the teenagers as Oscar followed quietly behind, seemingly lost in thought, "If we're going up against Salem, we're going to need an army backing us up, and our ticket to get access to this army is right here."

"What do you mean?" Weiss demanded as the drunk pointed his finger at her, "It's like you're saying the kingdoms are about to go to war."

"I'm not talking about a war against humans or faunus. No, our enemy has an army that's much larger than all the humans on Remnant," Qrow answered, "The Schnee Dust co. pretty much owns Atlas' military and with that, the rest of kingdom."

"That's right," Jaune said, nodding in agreement with Qrow then turning to Weiss, "I know you don't just want to be known for your status as the SDC heiress, but if we're going to win this fight, then we need Atlas' army on our side."

"I get it, Jaune," Weiss replied, "I want to help, but I'm no longer the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. My rat of a brother took the inheritance right under me."

"You can come with us if you want," Ruby suggested, "with Beacon Tower down, we won't have any way to communicate with you. Besides, we need all the help we can get."

"If you guys are planning to make a stop in Atlas, we could convince the committee to appoint ice princess the CEO," Qrow added, "I bet the tin man has enough dirt on your old man to run him out of the kingdoms."

"By the way, who's the kid?" Ruby chimed in.

"I'll tell you kids when we meet up with the rest of the group," Qrow grinned at Oscar who nervously smiled back, "By the way, I did not kidnap him."

A loud crash accompanied by the sound of wood breaking came from the door as the group approached JNR's room. Ruby and Jaune's eyes met for a brief moment before silently nodding in agreement. Jaune readied his shield and dampening ear plugs as Ruby took a position behind him and rested Crescent Rose's barrel on his shoulder. Only the sound of Ruby's safety clicking to the off position could be heard before Jaune lightly rapped his knuckles against the door.

"Who is it?" Yang cheerfully sang before being flung back from the point-blank blast.

"Jaune, we're gonna need a new table. Yang and I broke it," Nora hollered from the kitchen.

"Yang?" Ruby called from the doorway as she and Jaune stumbled into the room, "Oh crap, I'm so sorry. We heard a crash and we kind of assumed the worst."

"What were you doing in the first place to break the table?" Weiss demanded as she followed the pair of former leaders.

"Yang came through a portal and I went to the bathroom," Ren explained, poking his head through the bathroom door, "I swear, I left them for a minute. They must have gotten bored."

"Well, I _did_ just get a new arm, courtesy of Weiss, I'm assuming," Yang said, still recovering from the blast.

"I hope you like the gift," Weiss smiled, "speaking of which, why haven't you put it on?"

"Like Ren said, Nora and I got bored, so we needed to test it," Yang shrugged before spotting Qrow and Oscar enter the room, "By the way, who's the kid?"

"I'll explain later, I'm starved," Qrow mumbled as he dropped himself onto the couch, "Ninja dude, is dinner ready?"

"Actually, it's my turn to cook tonight," Jaune spoke up.  
"Isn't it my-"  
"You and Weiss probably have a ton to catch up on," Jaune cut off Ruby, grabbing the grocery bags from her hands, "Don't worry about it."

It hadn't taken long before the Jaune had set a large pot of noodles onto a new table. The young huntsman smiled at the familiar sight of his friends laughing over a meal together, the moment eclipsed by the feeling that something was missing. He sat back with a constant smile on his face while the group caught up with each other.

"Okay, I need to ask," Nora finally addressed the elephant in the room, "Who on Remnant is the kid?"

"I guess now would be great a time as any, Oz," Qrow sighed, reaching for his flask.

"Oz, as in Ozpin?" Yang asked in confusion.

"You are correct, Miss Xiao Long," Ozpin's voice came from the boy's mouth, "It's good to see you all again, students."

"What just happened?" Jaune asked.

"Professor Ozpin?" Ren questioned immediately after Jaune.

"Yes, but not quite," the Oz answered, "I know you all must have questions, the situation _is_ a lot to take in. We have much to talk about, after all, a _lot_ has happened since Beacon fell."


End file.
